Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-11-10
A DRuNkARD.s VICTIMS.


The Loss of the Propeller yeraon Alleges
to Have Been Due to the Drunkcnness o.
Her Ommander-Axe1 Stone, the Only
Survivor, Says the Captain was Drunk
Most of the Time.
CHICAGO, Nov. Edgar "A. Hall, broth
er of the second engineer of the Vernon
stated that the last time his brother wa.
in Chicago he told him that Captain
Thorp, master of the Vernon, had an at
tack of delirium tremens while on top Of
the pilot-house. Mr.. Hall was formerly
connected with the Northern Michigan
line, and was clerk of the propeller
Champlain until q short time before she
burned, when he resigned to accept posi-.
tion as book-keeper with Hanchett Broth
ers, No. 20 La Sale street. He also said
that it ought to have been well known to
the other officers of the line that
Captain Thorp was hard drinker, and that
he had often left port while drunk. Mr..
Hall gave the name of a prominent whole-
sale merchant who recently made a trip
on the Vernon, who had told him that
Captain Thorp was drunk during the en-.
tire time he remained on the boat.
The brother of Mrs. M. e. Van Amburgh
called at the Tribune Office last night and
said that his sister arrived in Chi
cago on the Vernon September 8, ac-
companied by Miss Addie Mickey, Of
Waterloo, N. Y. The steamer was three
days longer than usual in making the trip
from Cheboygan, and both ladies told i'm
that the Captain was drunk all the time.
Axel Stone, the only survivor of the
disaster, when asked if he ever saw Cap
tain Thorp drunk, replied: 1.-THE Captain
was drunk most of the time, and he was
very drunk when we left Cheboygan last
week. While we were coming through
the straits the second mate said to him:
Sober up, You drunken beast, and take
care of this boat and the people, The
Captain told him to go to hi. / was in
the cabin at the time and heard every
word that was said. Friday night, which
was the night that the steamer was
lost, the Captain was as drunk as
I ever saw him, and he kept
taking a drink every little while from
bottle that he carried in his coat pocket.
guess that is why the first mate staid on
deck all of the time. He knew that the
captain was so drunk that he did not
hardly know what he was about, and was
probably afraid the captain would do
something foolish. If the captain had
been sober don't believe the vessel would
have been lost, for any sober man would
have turned back when he saw how badly
she acted in the big sea-"
The ordinary second mate OF passen-
ger steamer would hardly dare to use
such language as the master of the Stone
ascribes to Captain Higgins, but the latter
was not an ordinary second mate. A
short time ago he was in command of the
steamer Leland, and lost his position
when the steamer changed ownership. 1t
is difficult to obtain a command in the
middle of the season, and rather than re-
main idle he accepted the first berth that
was offered him. In every sense he
was careful and skillful navigator,
and if he had been in command of the
Vernon that fatal night she might now be
afIoat. The same can be said of Captain
Sullivan, the first mate, who had for
many years commanded some of the finest
sailing vessels on the lakes The last
time the Vernon was in Chicago, Captain
Sullivan, speaking of the seaworthiness
of the steamer, remarked that she was all
right if properly loaded, but added that
she was being loaded deeper than she
ought to be.